"It was true! It wasn't harsh!" Tonioli, 54, told Us. "She was like a shopping cart! Sometimes people need to be shaken up a bit to keep it up! It's the truth, it's what I feel, it's just being honest!

"If you want love, go to your mother!" he added. "This is Dancing with the Stars, and you know what you're going to get! "It's a competition and there are people who are working very, very hard," he went on. "And to get there, you have to say, 'OK, I didn't perform, I was stiff, I was like a shopping cart.' They have to come back and show it."

"Poor woman!" he told Us. "She's here trying to have a good time and trying to make her kids and family proud. Tony is an excellent teacher and a great mentor and has been guiding her through it. We all want to support her, and I think she'll do fine."